Home Grilling

Grill Masters Club Experience Subscription Service review

It’s time to step up our grilling game, people. This week we’re checking out the Grill Masters Club, a subscription service that delivers a new collection of grilling products to your doorstep each month. Let’s fire up the grill and see what we get!

What is it?

It’s a subscription service that delivers a new grilling products to your doorstep every month. You also get access to their newsletter and members-only Facebook group for recipes, tips, videos, product discounts, and monthly giveaways.

What’s in the box?

4-5 new & different products come in the box each month. These products can include barbecue sauces, hot sauces, rubs, seasonings, wood chips, or grilling accessories. You also get a reference card with tips on using your new treasures and a brand new recipe each month. Here’s a picture of the first two sample boxes I received for reference:

Design and features

The Grill Masters Club team curates every month’s package for your grilling adventures. Everything is sourced, tested, packed, and shipped from their home base in Jacksonville, Florida. Each box is built on a theme like “The Twisted Texan” or “Exotic Fruit and Spice.” All of the products come from small batch manufacturers, giving you a chance to play with new items that may not normally be available in your area. 

I’ve received two sample deliveries so far, and I’m impressed with what I’m seeing. Each item is a full-sized product good for multiple uses. The variety of sauces, seasonings, and rubs gives you all kinds of options to experiment with on your meats, vegetables, and side dishes. Here are some sample pics from my first box:

A reference card for all the products is also included that provides some background information on the manufacturers and tips on how to use the item in your cooking. You also get a recipe card that goes along with the theme of the month.

The Grill Masters Club also supports your membership with an e-mail newsletter and a members-only Facebook group that provides ongoing articles and videos to develop your skills. The content covers the whole spectrum of grilling topics from recipes to tips and techniques. You also get access to members-only exclusive giveaways and product discounts. The content is excellent and updated several times a week, so they are clearly investing the time to make sure that this service adds value to your experience.

It’s a grilling article, so I have to show off some home cookin’! I paired off the mustard-based barbecue sauce in my first batch with some hand-cut boneless pork chops, and used the jalepeno garlic seasoning to spice up a batch of roasted broccoli. Both met with high praise from my grateful family:

I’ll continue to post updates on my experiences with the Grill Masters Club throughout the summer. I’m not gonna lie: I really like what I am seeing so far!

What I like

  • Quality products with bold, interesting flavors
  • Product variety gives you lots of options and new flavors to play with each month
  • Opportunity to experience new products from small batch makers you may not have access to in your area
  • Excellent online community with robust content

What needs to be improved

  • None to report at this time!

Final thoughts

Whether you’re a grilling newbie or a seasoned pitmaster, the Grill Masters Club is a great option for trying out new flavors, refining your skills, and adding some variety to your menus. In my opinion, the product quality and their dedication to online content make this a worthwhile investment. Your friends and family may thank you.

Price: $32.95/month for a one-time sample, $29.95/month for a 3 or 6-month subscription, or $27.95 a month for a full year subscription to the service.
Where to buy: Visit the Grill Masters Club site for more information.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Grill Masters Club.

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Grill Masters Club Experience Subscription Service review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 19, 2018 at 2:00 pm.

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Summer is coming 2.0 – You can’t make pancakes on a grill

Grilling is the traditional outdoor cooking method, but did you know that you can have a griddle in your outdoor kitchen?  Blackstone says that 2018 is the year of griddling, and their line of outdoor griddles will allow you to take your place at the forefront of this movement!

Griddles expand the types of foods you can prepare in your outdoor kitchen.  You can make things like eggs, bacon, and pancakes for breakfast, cheesesteaks for lunch sandwiches, and stir-fries and delicate fish for dinner.  The griddle tops are thick, cold-rolled steel that cleans up easily.  The griddles use propane and have electric push-button igniters.  There’s a range of sizes from a 17″ Table Top Griddle for tailgating and picnicking up to a 36″ four-burner griddle.  Even the larger griddles have stands with folding legs so you can take them along, too.

Prices for Blackstone outdoor griddles range from $99 for the tabletop model to $399.00 for a 36″ stainless steel model.  Check out the full line of outdoor griddles at Blackstone.

Forget winter! Summer’s coming, and you’ll need a new grill!

According to Wikipedia, a kamado is a traditional wood- or charcoal-fired Japanese stove.  Americans were introduced to this style of cooking during WWII, and that design has been incorporated into ceramic grills, like these Kamado Grills.  This model from Vision Grills is made with a thick ceramic body to retain heat, and they are designed to burn charcoal.  They incorporate a slot for an electric charcoal lighter, and they have dual calibrated draft-in dials for heat control, an ash-removal drawer, and a metal top vent.

Inside, you’ll find a dual-tier grill that has 604 square inches of cooking space.  This particular model, the Kamado Professional Ceramic Charcoal Grill with Grill Cover, also has two drop-down shelves, and the top has dual springs to help with the lift weight.

This Kamado Professional grill is $699.00 at Home Depot.

The MEATER wireless meat thermometer review

The Gadgeteer Kid & I are true carnivores without a doubt. We love all kinds of cooked meat from steaks to fish and everything in-between. IMHO, grilling is a science and an art form with cooking everyone’s meal to perfection a stressful experience more often than not. Managing all the variables and people’s preferences is challenging, add a little alcohol and the odds of missing the mark goes up exponentially. Well, the engineers who developed the MEATER (the G.K. and I still chuckle @the name), the first truly wireless meat thermometer, aim to help you “achieve perfect and consistent results every time.”

Design and features

I have used several “wireless” thermometer probes for measuring the core temperature of what you’re trying to cook. They all had a metal braided cable stretching from the basestation to the sensor inserted into the meat that is sitting inside your barbecue or oven. Then the basestation transmitted the temperature data to your smartphone or other device meant to let you know the status of your food.

The MEATER is a truly wireless, dual sensor probe created with the sole job of helping you cook your food to perfection with the unwritten goal of boosting your grilling street-cred to Master BBQ’er.

Technical specifications

  • Stainless steel construction
  • Water resistant design, dustproof, and easy to clean
  • Wireless up to 33 feet (10 meters): Bluetooth LE connection to your smart device
  • MEATER Sense™: 2 temperature sensors in 1 probe
  • Internal temperature sensor range: 212°F (100°C)
  • Ambient temperature sensor range: 527°F (275°C)
  • Rechargeable Battery: Lasts 24 hours of continuous cooking between charges
  • Dimensions 130mm x 7mm (6mm diameter)

The MEATER comes with a bamboo holder that securely keeps and recharges the wireless (easily misplaced) probe. There is a battery power level LED & button located on the front of the wooden holder.

There are two embedded magnets on either side of the back that enable you to place the wooden charger on most metal surfaces (aka the side of a refrigerator, stove, BBQ, etc).

The MEATER is powered by a single AAA battery and can charge your MEATER probe up to 100 times before needing to be replaced. The back cover is also held in place by two small embedded magnets.

The MEATER probe has to be inserted into the meat beyond the line machined into the metal casing to protect the main sensor from damage due to high temperatures.

The ambient sensor is meant to monitor the cooking temperature of the oven or BBQ. It is located in the black plastic end of the probe.

Along with creating a very easy to use, high quality device, the folks @MEATER have developed a very polished ecosystem/app to make cooking with the MEATER nearly foolproof. The MEATER’s Smart Guided Cook system walks you through every step of the cooking process. The app guides you thru the type, cut, and doneness of the meat.

The MEATER’s dual sensors continuously monitor internal and ambient temperatures concurrently. The app also gives you elapsed cooking time and estimated time remaining until your meal is ready to serve.

Then to walk you over the finish line, the app let’s you know when to pull the meat from the cooker, let it finalize it internal cooking (aka letting it rest), and when its ready to eat. The estimated cook time has been spot on…within 5 minutes or so. Not bad considering the roast took nearly two plus hours to cook.

Overall, the whole system is brilliant. I used the MEATER several times over the holiday season and every cook in the room loved it, we all geeked out. All of the were a bit jealous and seriously considering buying one ASAP. The agreed upon, most loved features of MEATER was it being truly wireless, with built-in internal and ambient sensors, and its ability to estimate cooking time so accurately.

The only real limitation of the MEATER is it’s range and lost connectivity. I wouldn’t even consider it a true negative just a known issue that needs to be worked around. You’re sticking a small under powered Bluetooth device into a metal box, it’s range is going to be pretty limited. I found both in the BBQ and oven, the range of the MEATER was approximately 10 feet but would quickly reconnect once back in range.

Positives

  • Well made, thought out design
  • Truly wireless
  • Water resistant, dust-proof, easy to clean
  • Built-in dual sensors
  • Excellent app/ecosystem

Negatives

  • Limited wireless range

Final thoughts

I would give the MEATER 5-stars if it weren’t for its limited range. The soon to be released MEATER BLOCK will hopefully take care of this limitation. That said, I love this device and in most, if not all circumstance would make an excellent tool for any and all grilling/barbecuing aficionados. The MEATER’s truly wireless, dual sensor design in concert with its Smart Guided Cook system makes cooking meat stress-free and nearly idiot-proof.

Price: $69.00
Where to buy: MEATER
Source: The sample for this review was provided by MEATER.

Keep a BBQ Toolbox in your car, and you’re ready to grill at any time

This sleek, red toolbox doesn’t have screwdrivers or wrenches inside, but it has the tools to help you prepare a meal.  The BBQ Toolbox is made of stainless steel and mild steel, and opens up to reveal a 7.75″  x 15.75″ stainless steel grilling surface.  When you open it, the carry handles move down to serve as legs for the grill.  In addition to the cooking surface, it also has a bun-warming surface and a little compartment to store spices and seasonings or a spatula.  Just pack the compartment with charcoal, and you’re ready to cook while camping, tailgating, or picnicking.  It also makes a great addition to your emergency-preparedness kit.  The BBQ Toolbox is $99.00 at UncommonGoods.